1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to subsurface well equipment and, more particularly, to an apparatus for remotely disconnecting downhole well tools and/or conduits from one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention was developed in response to a problem that exists with the current manner in which an inflatable packer located downhole is remotely disconnected from a production tubing, such as a coiled tubing, to which the packer is connected, such as in a permanent bridge plug application. One current approach to remotely disconnecting the packer from the tubing is through a mechanical release joint that is disposed between the packer and the tubing. The mechanical release joint consists generally of two tubular members, one of which is partially disposed within the other. The tubular members are connected to one another by shear screws. One tubular member is connected to the tubing, and the other is connected to the packer. The mechanical release joint is designed such that when it is desired to disconnect the tubing from the packer, a force of sufficient magnitude is applied to the tubing so that the shear screws will shear, thus disconnecting the two tubular members of the mechanical release joint, and thereby also disconnecting the tubing from the packer. One problem with this type of mechanical release joint, however, is that it may be unintentionally actuated by unforeseen downhole conditions, such as pressure or flow rate variations that are sufficiently large to shear the shear screws. As such, the present invention was developed to provide an improved release joint that is not prone to being unintentionally actuated by unforeseen downhole conditions.